Apple made Google the default search engine for the Safari web browser on iPhone and Mac because it’s the best option, not because Google paid billions of dollars for the prime placement, according to a top Apple executive.

Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services, made the claim Tuesday during testimony in the antitrust trial United States et al v. Google LLC. Cue also told the court that Apple’s deal with Google doesn’t violate his company’s oft-stated position on protecting user privacy.

September 21, 1999: A little startup called Google comes out of beta, with the launch of a website that will let the general public easily search the internet for information.

To Apple, which is embracing the internet with its twin iMac G3 and iBook products, Google seems like the perfect ally. Sadly, the relationship between the two companies won’t remain rosy for long.

August 19, 2004: Google floats its initial public offering on the stock market. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin turn into instant billionaires as the Google IPO cements the company’s status as a tech giant.

Relations between Google and Apple are good at the time, with Steve Jobs serving as a mentor to the company’s two young founders, and Google’s Eric Schmidt soon to join Apple’s board of directors. However, the peace won’t last long.

The owner of today’s MacBook Pro setup chose two Studio Displays over one Pro Display XDR to suit his workflow and because he realized he could bag one of the monitors at half price. Lucky him.

Several folks on social media noticed the damage, and some said they’d grab that deal, too, if they could.

Google thinks Apple’s Find My network is so clever it’s “borrowing” the idea. But the upcoming extension of Android’s Find My Device network to tracking tags has been delayed — and Google says it’s all because of Apple.

The snafu supposedly stems from the companies working together on a scheme to prevent stalkers from misusing tracking tags made for the two rival platforms.

California introduced a COVID-19 exposure-notification system that used iPhone and Android to track interactions with infected people. And now that the U.S. government says the pandemic is over, CA Notify is shut down.

It’s possible Apple will eventually remove the underlying technology from iOS.

In a move it calls “the beginning of the end of the password,” Google began rolling out passkeys for its accounts Wednesday. The move means that users of Apple devices can sign into these accounts using Face ID or Touch ID rather than a password.

The underlying tech already comes built into iPhone, Mac, etc.

Apple and Google jointly proposed an industry specification Tuesday to help fight the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices. Their proposal would make it easier for both iPhone and Android users to detect that they are being surreptitiously followed by a tracking device.

The proposal enjoys support from other makers of location trackers, too.

YouTube will soon get support for SharePlay, as well as videos with higher bitrates. And queuing up videos and jumping between devices will get easier, too.

The enhancements are part of Google efforts to get more subscribers for YouTube Premium.

Google is bringing one of the key Pixel-exclusive camera features, Magic Eraser, to the iPhone. The feature is now available on all smartphones as a part of Google One.

Using Magic Eraser, you can erase unwanted people and objects from your photos with a tap.